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Posts Tagged ‘Symptoms of pernicious anemia’

Severe vitamin B12 deficiency can take years to develop; if you’ve been diagnosed with borderline pernicious anemia, then there’s still time for you to prevent permanent nerve damage and boost healthy red blood cells…

B12 deficiency is pernicious and sinister

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 3.2% of middle-aged individuals have dangerously low levels of vitamin B12, resulting in symptoms such as constant fatigue, memory loss, depression, and painful numbness and tingling in the extremities.

Additionally, a whopping 20% of people from the same age group have borderline pernicious anemia, meaning that their vitamin B12 levels are steadily plummeting, although none of the characteristic symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency have manifested themselves…yet.

Untreated, borderline pernicious anemia, or subclinical vitamin B12 deficiency, can quickly escalate into full-blown clinical pernicious anemia, causing more than just a few debilitating symptoms.

Long-term pernicious anemia can lead to irreversible nerve damage, blood diseases, an increased risk for heart attack or stroke, and in worst-case scenarios, death.

Risk factors

Pernicious anemia is not exactly a disease, but rather a condition that can occur as a result of an underlying illness or other risk factors.

Risk factors for pernicious anemia or any other forms of vitamin B12 deficiency include:

What are the symptoms of borderline pernicious anemia?

Unfortunately, there are rarely any apparent symptoms when vitamin B12 deficiency is still at the subclinical stage.

Sometimes, a blood test can confirm if vitamin B12 levels are noticeably low, but not always. Most vitamin B12 blood screenings test for total vitamin B12 molecules in your entire body, without distinguishing between “active B12” and dormant B12 which sits in your liver.

If you fall into any of the risk factors for even borderline pernicious anemia, then you should supplement with extra vitamin B12, even if you haven’t noticed any of the telltale symptoms, in order to prevent depletion.

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What is Addison’s disease, and why is pernicious anemia from vitamin B12 deficiency sometimes labeled Addison’sanemia? Here are some facts about B12 deficiency and Addison’s.

What is Addison’s disease?

Addison’s disease is a rare illness that destroys the adrenal glands. Since symptoms of Addison’s don’t manifest themselves until the adrenal cortex is nearly obliterated- by 90%- Addison’s disease is difficult to catch in time to prevent damage.

What are the symptoms of Addison’s disease?

Symptoms of advanced-stage Addison’s disease include:

Constant fatigue

Muscle pain

Muscle weakness

Loss of appetite

Weight loss

Dizziness

Nausea

Vomiting

Salt cravings

Low blood pressure

Skin discolorations

What causes Addison’s disease?

Addison’s from autoimmune disorder is the most common type, but other rare forms of Addison’s disease occur around the world.

Vitamin B12 deficiency and Addison’s

Most cases of Addison’s disease result from autoimmune disorder, and approximately half eventually develop other autoimmune diseases such as thyroid malfunctions.

Often, vitamin B12 deficiency also results from an autoimmune disorder- pernicious anemia, which occurs when the stomach is unable to produce or maintain the intrinsic factor enzyme that is necessary for vitamin B12absorption.

About 5% of patients with autoimmune Addison’s disease may also develop vitamin B12 deficiency-pernicious anemia.

Because of the strong link between vitamin B12 deficiency and Addison’s disease, pernicious anemia is sometimes referred to as Addison’s anemia.